A local school district is under strain as voters reject a proposition to buy electric school buses ahead of an approaching deadline for New York school districts to transition to zero-emission bus fleets.
On Tuesday, voters in the Spencerport Central School District rejected a proposition to purchase electric buses for the second time in two years.
This time 72% of about 1,000 people voted no, a much wider margin than last spring. Thenthe proposition failed by 20 votes with about the same amount of people casting ballots.
“We appreciate our community for taking the time to vote today and certainly respect the outcome,” Superintendent Ty Zinkiewich said in a statement Tuesday night. “Moving forward, we will seek further guidance from our local and state municipal advisors in determining next steps toward meeting this legislative mandate.”
District spokesperson Lynette Cypher said in an email that those advisors include state education law specialists, the state energy research and development agency, and Rochester Gas and Electric.
“We will need this guidance to determine where ‘we go from here,’” Cypher wrote.
There is a tight window of opportunity for the district to buy the buses or risk losing access to grant money.
Ahead of the vote last May, Jonathan Saltzberg, the district’s executive director for operations and special projects, said in an explainer video that while there is a state mandate to transition to e-buses, another window of opportunity to offset costs to taxpayers is closing.
“Spencerport has been approved for Environmental Protection Agency grants for the purchase of two zero emission buses,” Saltzberg said in the May 13 video. “These purchases may take months to process, and the deadline to use the EPA grant funds is May 2026.
Schools across New York state are required to stop purchasing diesel buses by 2027 and fully transition to zero-emission buses by 2035.
Other districts’ propositions to buy electric vehicles have faced similar results in recent years, such as in Hilton and Churchville-Chili.
“When the taxpayers say ‘No’ to a bus proposition like this, and the governor says, ‘You must,’ where does that leave us?” Monroe County School Boards Association Executive Director Thomas told WXXI news in a preview interview.
Schools across New York state have one more year before any new school buses they buy must be zero-emission. The Monroe County School Boards Association is calling for a pause on that deadline.
